It has become a desired accessory for homes, automobiles and other spaces to provide a scented environment. Materials such as ceramics, polymers, wood and cellulose materials have been used to release a fragrance. Cotton has been used to release volatile materials, such as a fragrance, and examples are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,615,754 and 5,372,303. Fabric has also been used as an absorbent medium from which a volatile material can evaporate as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,626,833. In U.S. Pat. No. 855,984 a sponge is used to volatilize a perfume or disinfectant. U.S. Pat. No. 1,988,141 describes the use of a felt pad to release a perfume. These and similar articles have a very rapid release of fragrance from their matrix, and do not provide a prolonged release of fragrance.
Wood has been used to hold scent, for example, incense sticks. To release significant quantities of the scent, the wooden incense sticks are burned and the aroma is released into the environment. Allowing the incense sticks to release their scent without burning results in an inadequate scent release. Wood is not highly absorbent and therefore absorbs low amounts of scented material. Wood pulp has been used to absorb fragrance and release it, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,120,204. The use of wood pulp may pose problems when it is friable and cannot be made into stable articles.
Wood sticks or reeds, without a fragrance applied initially, have been used in reed diffusers. In a reed diffuser, the wood, such as two or three bamboo reeds, are placed in a container holding a scented oil. The oil wicks up the central portion of the reed and the fragrance volatilizes out the upper end of the reed. The reeds must be turned frequently so that the previously immersed end of the reed is exposed to the air outside the container. Often the reeds clog from debris or biocontaminants in the oil, and are not effective at providing long-term fragrance to an environment.
What is needed are articles that provide olfactory-active substances, and methods for making and using such articles, and compositions used for articles that provide olfactory-active substances, such as fragrance, to an environment, including articles that are durable, easily manufactured and provide a slow or controlled rate of release of the olfactory substance, such as fragrance, for many applications.